Thanks to our friends at the Rock and Vine Magazine for an amazing article! Haus section, From the Ground Up …
… Todd Eidson, president and owner of Sierra Homes, spends a lot of time on job sites. Because he likes building. “I’m in my truck all day long, five days a week,” he said. “Some days I would appreciate a rainout so I could sit in the office and get over the paperwork hump.” But really, he’d rather be on the job.
“I started working on job sites at age 13. My dad ran a small contracting company in North Carolina,” he said. “Every summer I’d start by sweeping floors, stacking lumber, hauling trash.”
When Eidson met his future wife, Caroline, she informed him she was moving back to Texas, and if he wanted to be with her then he should come along. The couple found their way to the Texas Hill Country.
Shortly after moving to Fredericksburg, Eidson came to work for Sierra Homes, which specializes in green built construction. When the founders decided to retire, he bought the business. Until then his entire career had been in commercial building. Moving to residential was a real switch—from disconnection to connection.
“What I didn’t like about commercial was you never met with the owners or the end user. If you’re building a hospital, you’re not talking to the doctors in that operating room. If you’re building a school, you’re not talking to the teachers about the classroom,” he said.
With residential, Eidson stays connected to his clients, listening and taking notes. “I’m part marriage counselor, part paint-picker-outer,” he said. “Because I’m a builder, I can see in 3-D. Most homeowners can’t see how this dream house is actually gonna look on this hilltop. We help them get it to fit the site.”
Eidson says green building doesn’t limit a house to one specific style. “We will build anything—whatever the client wants to bring me,” he said.
One of Eidson’s goals is to help people think through how to build an energy-efficient home. He is a Master CGP, certified green professional, from the National Association of Home Builders. For some clients, he may install solar panels and a rainwater catchment system, as he did for Peter Ray’s ranch. “The house Todd and Sierra built for us survived the ice storm of 2021 and all the high winds we’ve experienced,” Ray said. “The solar panels have reduced our monthly bills significantly. The rainwater collection system provides clean, mineral-free water and complements our well.” READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MEGAN WILLOME HERE
